Door frame construction



Dec. 19, 1939. F. F. BEIL ET AL DOOR FRAME CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 25, 1937 z/fff/Zfreiz zfm y Dec. '19, 1939. F. F. BEIL Er AL 2,183,879

DOOR FRAME CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 25, 1937 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z: & x W

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Patented Dec. 19, 1939 I Forrest F. Beil and Earl E. Green, Clinton; Iowa, assignors to Curtis Companies Incorporated,

Clinton, Iowa, a corporation of .Iowa Application October 25, 1937, SeriaINo. 170,890

6 Claims.- (01. 20-11) one object of our present invention is -to provide a-door frame construction which is an improvement over our Patent No. 2,080,555, issued;

May18, 1937.

More particularly it is our object to provide in connection With a door frame as shown in our former patent, a means whereby the inner edges of adjustable architraves or other ornamental members are provided with moulded edges yet adjacent edges of the architraves are adjustable relative to each other and'the moulded edges are so designed that such adjustment can be accom plished without any intricate reforming oi-fitting of the parts.

Another object is to provide a pair of side architraves and a head architrave having its lower edge coacting with the upper ends of the side architraves, the inner edges of all the architraves beingmoulded and one of the moulded edges being provided in the form of a moulding strip positioned by tongue and groove means reli ative to its architraves and thereby capable of being interfitted with the moulded edges of other architraves by the simple expedient of-mitering one end of the moulding strip.

Still another object is to provide a joint between the upper ends of the side architraves and the lower edge of the head architraves which aligns their faces 'accuratelyregardless of the various positions relative to each other to which they may be adjusted.

' The foregoing objects permit the use of adjustable architraves'which are more easily and readily adjusted because they. require less fitting and the fitting is of a more simple nature. Also the joints are less susceptible to opening due to,

shrink and swell of parts of the door frame.

A further object is to provide architraveswhich are adjustable so that they present-greater or less reveal depending on whether narrow or 7 grooves for weather strips in the jambs adjacent the door stops thereof.

With these and other objects in view, our invention consists in the construction,arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby theobjects contemplatedare attained,as hereinafter more fully set forth,pointed out in our claims and illustrated in the accom panying drawings; in which:

" Figure .1 is an outside elevation of a doorframe illustrating our invention applied thereto.

. Figure 2 is a front elevation of the architraves and a moulding member for the edge of one of them, the parts being separated and partlyin section to show tongues, tenons and grooves which form a means to properly align the parts .with each other.

Figure 2a' is a view similar to the lower left corner of Figure-2 showing a modification. v

Figure 3. is an enlarged horizontal sectional view on the lined-3 of Figure 1.

Figure'4 is an enlarged vertical sectional View on the line l4 of Figure 1.

' Figure '5 is a sectional View similar to Figure 3 showing the addition of an adapter mould and extension jamb where the door frame construction is used in a masonry wall instead of a stud being moulded; and

- Figure 7 isa similar sectional view showing the side architrave modified to increase its width by the use of a widened mould strip.

In the accompanying drawings we have used the reference numeral IE) to indicate a door sill. Side jambs are indicated at I2 and a head jamb is indicated at l4.- Ornamental members surround the door opening defined by the sill l0 and the jambs I2 and and include side architraves 'lli, a head architrave l8, pilasters and amp 2'2. Base mould members 24 are provided for the lower ends of the. pilasters 20.

Referring to Figures3 and4, it will be noted that the pilasters Zli and the cap 22 are spaced from the sheathing 250i the wall. The outer edges thereof are held so" spaced by side casings 26 and a filler block 2-! for the pilasters and cap "respectively. The filler block 27 andthe upper edge of. .the cap ZZ are covered by a shelf 28 as shown in Figure 4. The architraveslfi and I8,

it will be obvious, may. be slid to a greater 'or le'ssdegreeof overlap relative to the pilasters 20 and the can 22;

In Figure 3 approximately maximum, extension of the architraves is illustrated while in Figure 5 almost minimum extension thereof is illustrated. In this manner as described in our previous patent, one s'etof pilasters and cap can be mounted relative to a door frame and Will accommodate several different sizes of doors, it being merely necessary to extend the architraves sufficiently to cover the intervening wall space between the pilasters and the sides of the door opening and between the cap and head of the door opening.

It is desirable from the design standpoint to have the inner edges of the architrave moulded. Referring to Figures 3 and 4, it will be noted, that the'cross section of the architraves is substantially rectangular, the side architraves I6 having their inner edges moulded as indicated at h 29 and the head architrave 18 having a moulded strip 30 applied to its edge. It isobvious that if the lower edge of the head architrave l8 were process would have to be performed quite accurately in order to make a good joint. However, we have provided the mould strip 30 of the same shape as the moulded edge 29 and provided other features to eliminate the necessityof such cutting and fitting. Specifically these features include a groove 3| in the loweredge of the head architrave [8 throughout its length, a tongue 32 onthe upper face of the mould strip 30 to fit the groove 3| and tenons 33 on the upper ends of I the side architrave Hi to also fit the groove. These parts are illustrated in separated position in Figure 2. It will be obvious when the tongues 32 and the tenons 33 are extended into the groove 3|, the parts are aligned so that a correctly mitered joint appears at the ends of the strip 30 and the upper ends of the moulded edges 29;

As shown by dash lines in Figure 2, when a narrow door is to be fitted, the head architrave [8 can be cut off along the line 34 and in order to make the moulded edges of the architrave fit each other it is merely necessary to miter one end of the strip 30 as indicated at 35. This obviously is very simple to do and yet when the parts are assembled, the tongue, tenon and groove connections assure proper face and moulded edge alignment.

When the mould strip 33 isassembled on the head architrave 18, the two have a cross sectional shape similar to the cross section of the side architrave I6 thereby carrying out a similar design around the door frame and inter-fitting of the tenons 33 and the grooves 3| provides a tight joint.

Where shorterdoors are to be accommodated, the lower ends of the side architraves are cutoff but the tenons at the upper ends need not be cut off or trimmed in any manner thus insuring that the joint machined at the factory can be maintained regardless of the necessary adjustment for fitting the architraves to the size of doorbeing installed.

.When the door is of a narrower, width than maximum it is a very simple matterto slide the tenons 33 inwardly until the distance between the side architraves is proper for the jambs being installed. It can then be determined just what length the mould strip 30 should be. Any surplus length of the head architrave can be cut off and need not even be cut square as it is concealed by the cap 22 and the pilasters 2U.

As evident from an inspection of Figure 1 wherein the limits of the architraves are shown by dottedlines, the moulded edges of the side architraves and the tenons are cut at a miter at the factory and accordingly on the job it is, necessary tomiter only one end of the mould strip 30 when the side architraves 16 are adjusted to any position less than the maximum distance apart.

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, it will be noted that the inner edges of the jambs l2 and M are rabbeted as indicated at 36 to receive plaster lock mould strips 31.

The strips 31 have grooves 38 to receive lath 39 and plaster 40 of the inner wall. The inner edges of the jambs, it will be noted, are slightly beveled so that casing or trim later applied will make a tight joint therewith.

*The mould strip 31 inter-fits with the rabbet 36 whereby it is definitely located with respect to the jamb. The groove 38 forms a shoulder under which the plaster 40 can lock, thus effectively bonding the edge of the plaster to the edge of the window frame. The mould strip 31 forms not only a plaster lock to produce a tighter, more leak-proof joint but also supplies a nailing surface of greater width than the door jamb to which trim may. be applied. This is especially useful whennarrow trim is used which ordinarily may not be wide enough to reach over to the stud or in masonry walls as shown in Figure where there is no nailing surface available.

Along the jambs I2 and I4 we provide-weather strip receiving grooves 4| adjacent the door stop shoulder Ma formed by rabbeting the jamb. These are adapted to frictionally receive weather strips WS of the type shown in the Madsen Patent No. 2,077,845 of April 20, 1937. receives a doubled flange 42 of the weather strip, the flange being merely pushed into the groove. Such connection eliminates the necessity of nail ing the weather strip in place and thus the door frame may be factory prepared, to receive the weather strip.

In Figure 5 a masonry wall is indicated at 43. Due to its greater thickness, we have provided a sub or extension jamb 44 and an adapter mould 45. These take care of the additional thickness of the wall and provide a connection between the inset outer edge of the jamb l2 and the edges of the architraves IS. A similar extension jamb and adapter mould are, of course, provided at the head as well as at the sides of the door frame. The adapter mould 45 provides set back joint relationship between the jamb and the extension jamb. The extension jamb face is thereby offset outwardly relative to the face of the jamb to provide clearance for door hardware such. as hinge barrels and door knobs or handles. The offset arrangement also provides room for-the hand of a person on the door knob without danger of striking the hand against the extension jamb when turning the knob.

Although we have described our improved construction as applied to a door frame it isobvious that wherever ornamental members form a building opening and other ornamental members are provided for adjustment relative to the first ones to cover orpartially coverthe intervening wall space between the opening and the first ornamental members the invention can be used,

A further feature of our invention is the provision of fill-in mould strips 46 and 41 where the architraves are extended to a position where they present an appearance of being too wide to be consistent with good architectural design. These have mitered joints at 48 which can bemachined at the factory with the exception of cutting'off one end of the strip 41 at a miter after its necessary length for a given installation has been determined. The strips 46 can be cut off square at their lower ends when it is required that they be This groove shortened thus making necessary only one mitered cut.

The relative adjustment between ornamental members which cover the wall to accommodate different sizes of openings or provide different degrees of reveal may be accomplished with facility when the moulded edges of the ornamental members and a mould strip are machined and one end of the mould strip is cut on the job for interfitting as illustrated in Figure 2.

In Figures 2a and 6, we suggest a modification in the side architrave Hi. In these figures, the architrave is indicated as lfia and includes a groove am similar to the groove 38 in the head architrave l8. A mould strip 2912 similar to the mould strip has a tongue 32a fitting into the groove am. In this manner the inner edge of the side architrave may be formed by the mould strip 29a. instead of this inner edge itself being moulded as at 29 in Figure 3. v

In Figure 7 we show a further modification in which the mould strip has been considerably widened and is indicated at 291). With a mould strip such as illustrated in this figure, it is'ob-vious that the extension of the side architrave relative to the pilaster can be considerably increased beyond that possible by the sliding adjustment only of the architrave relative to the pilasters and cap. When the side mould strip 291) of Figure 7 is used for the side architrave, a similar head mould strip of course (not shown) would be used for increas-,

ing the extension of the head architrave and the upper ends of the side mould strips 2% would be miter fitted with the ends of such head mould strip.

Although it is possible to use mould strips 291) of different widths and rely on this method of widening the architraves, it isv still desirable to have the architraves slidable relative to the pilasters and cap to take care of slight inaccuracies in building construction. The mould strip 29b when used, preferably has a bead Bil or other ornamentation to conceal the joint and further ornament the surface.

Some changes may-be made in'the construction and arrangement of the parts of our device without departing from the real spirit and pur-' pose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

We claim as our invention:

1. For use in a wall, a door frame construction comprising side and head jambs, side and head architraves extending from the edges thereof and overlapping the face of said wall, the inner edges of said side architraves being molded and the upper ends thereof mitered, spaced pilasters and a cap, said architraves being located between said pilasters and said wall and movable relative thereto and between said cap and said wall and movable relative thereto to define varying widths and heights of door openings, the bottom of said head architrave having a groove therein from end to end thereof, the upper ends of said side architraves having tenons to fit in said groove and means for covering the portion of said groove spanning the distance between said side architraves comprising a molding strip of contour similar to the contour of said molded edges, the ends of said molding strip being mitered and forming joints with the upper mitered ends of said molded edges.

ing the architraves and the wall at the sides and top of-said architraves, said jambs and architraves being movable relative to said wall sheathing and relative to said ornamental members to Vary the dimensions of door openings defined by the jambs, the ends of the head architrave and the upper ends of the side architraves being mounted edge to edge, and extension jambs and an adapter mould for widening said jambs to accommodate a wall thicker than a jamb of normal width.

3. For use in a wall, a door frame construction comprising side and head jambs and side and head architraves extending from the jambs and overlying the wall, said head architrave being grooved on its under edge from end to end, said side architraves having tongues at their upper ends to engage said groove and align said architraves relative to each other and permit side adjustment to define varying frame sizes and means to cover the unusedexposed groove in said head architrave comprising mitered corners at the inner edges of the side architraves adjacent said tongues and a member having mitered ends to be applied on the grooved edge of the head architrave and forming completed mitered joints with the mitered corners of said side architraves.

4. For use in a wall, a door frame construction comprising side and head jambsand side and head architraves extending from the jambs and overlying the wall, said head architrave being grooved on its under edge from end to end, said side architraves having tongues at their upper ends to engage said groove and align said architraves relative to each other and permit side adjustment to define varying frame sizes and means to cover the unused exposed groove in said head architrave comprising mitered corners at said tongues ,and a member having mitered ends to be applied on the grooved edge of the head architrave and forming completed mitered joints with the mitered corners of said side architraves, said member having a tongue to fit into said groove in said head architrave to align the mitered ends of said member with the mitered corners of said side architraves 3 5. For use in a wall, a frame having jambs, extension jambs and adapter molds, said extension jambs and adapter molds being provided for widening said jambs to accommodate a wall thicker than can be done with a jamb of normal width and said adapter molds being provided for serving as a joint connection between adjacent edges of said jambs and said extension jambs and being constructed and arranged to olfset the face of the extension jamb outwardly relative to the jamb to provide clearance. for door hardware.

6. For use in a wall, a frame having jambs, extension jambs and adapter molds, said extension jambs and adapter molds being provided for widening said jambs to accommodate a wall thicker than can be done with a jamb of normal width, said adapter mold. being constructed and FORREST F. BEIL. EARL E. GREEN. 

